I am so excited about this post, because Alejandra Mantiñan is definitely one of my most favourite dancers in the world: She is graceful, fierce, creative, playful and generous… everything I dream to be on the dance floor… and off of the dance-floor… So, a few months ago Alejandra and Aoniken came to London to teach and perform at the UK Tango Festival and Championship. They are absolutely amazing dancers, dedicated teachers and wonderful performers. As you can imagine, their workshops were packed and their performance dazzling and fun. In addition to hanging out and drinking a lot of mate with them, Pablo asked Alejandra if she had a piece of advice to share with the readers of our blog… about tango dancing in general…
Here is what she shared with us:
“Entender a tu companero es cuando apprendiste a entenderte a vos mismo”
“You can only understand your partner once you understand yourself”
The way we communicate in tango is so subtle that there are a lot of individual elements we need to learn about, and then absolutely master
We need to do deep work on our posture, our balance, where our axis is, the right balance between a powerful and a relaxed body, a soft but present embrace… If we are a bit off balance, a bit tense, a bit too floppy… we can’t thoroughly communicate with, and understand our partner.
So individual practice is incredibly important. Doing exercises at home during our own practice time is very helpful.
Individual practice also means developing our knowlegde of the tango world, of our bodies and of movement in general.
It involves making sure that we are thorough when we learn the technique, that we keep taking classes, that we stay curious about the different styles and teaching methodologies…
It is something that takes time, and it’s ok.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we are all on a path of self-discovery when we embark into a tango journey. What matters is that we never stop trying to discover more….
Let’s finish with a video of Alejandra and Aoniken at the UK Tango Festival & Championship last June! Inspiring, no?
(if you can’t see the video, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECJtDmIcyL8)
We wish you a happy wednesday and great haha moments of self-discovery,
Abrazos,
Anne
